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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sunday Salon: A Book about Reading & What I am Reading Now

In my August 10, 2008 Sunday Salon post I wrote: "It is my intent to stretch out the reading of this book, reading snippets here and there in between my other reading." And I certainly did stretch it out! Over a year later, and I finally was able to finish Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Yourself in Books by Maureen Corrigan. This was that book I referred to at the beginning of the year, the one I found hidden in a basket of reference books. It was never my intention to put off finishing the book, much less to wait so long to get back to it. There's no time like the present, eh?

I have only read a handful of memoirs focusing on a reader's love of books. Sara Nelson's So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading and Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi come instantly to mind. There's always a risk to reading such books: running into possible spoilers of books I have yet to read and not being familiar with the books talked about, perhaps feeling a bit lost as a result. And what about all the new titles added to that wish list? Now there's a positive--or a negative depending on how you look at it. That would surely be the case with Maureen Corrigan's memoir.

Picking up where I last left off, I had no trouble jumping right back into Maureen Corrigan's narrative about how books have impacted her life and vice versa over the years. In the final two chapters of the book, she discusses the influence of her childhood and faith on her reading and how those early books she read influence her life to this day. She also goes into how her view and expectations about relationships were impacted by her reading, including those of a romantic nature. Books opened her eyes to an entirely different world and it lead her down unexpected paths. They also helped shape her values and ideals. On a broader scale, Corrigan talks a little about the changing nature of literature over the years, something I found especially interesting.

Corrigan included a coveted "Recommended Reading" list near the end of the book, which, of course I found irresistible. While several of the titles she mentions I have read and enjoyed (Jane Eyre, The Maltese Falcon, and Pride and Prejudice, just to name a few), there are many others I have not yet tasted and some I had never heard of before that are now on my wish list, especially from her mystery and suspense list. She reminded me that I need to dive back into Sara Paretsky's series and finally get around to reading Ian Rankin and Henning Mankell. Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen, Straight Man by Richard Russo, and Bleak House by Charles Dickens are among some of the titles that I must read.

Do you ever read memoirs about books and reading? If so, do you have a favorite?

At some point this year I hope to get to Nick Hornby's collections of essays about books and reading. I hear they are irresistible.

This past week I also read an intriguing mystery set in Italy--Umbria to be exact. It is called A Deadly Paradise and is by Grace Brophy. It's the second in a series featuring Commissario Cenni, and now I am anxious to get my hands on the first. I love a good mystery set in a country other than my own. This particular one delves a little bit into World War II history, although it is set in the present day.

Yesterday I began reading Umrigar Thrity's The Weight of Heaven, a book I have been wanting to get to since I first heard that it had been published. It is about a couple who lost their child to death and are trying to re-establish their lives. I jumped at the chance to be a part of the TLC Virtual Book Tour when I saw it coming around. I have read two books by Umrigar before, both very good, and am anxious to read more by this great author. There will be a giveaway of The Weight of Heaven (I have an extra copy since I bought my own) so be sure and visit on my tour date (February 1st) for a chance to win.

Speaking of giveaways, tomorrow I will be posting my review of American Rust by Philipp Meyer along with a giveaway of Meyer's book. I have two copies for giveaway, one for U.S. and Canadian residents from the publisher, and the other my own copy of the book that I will be giving away to someone outside of the U.S. and Canada. I hope you will stop by!

I am determined to read a Sarah Waters novel this year as so many readers have sung her praises. The question then became, where to begin? I put it to you to help me decide which book I should start with of all her novels. Many thanks to each of you who participated in the survey.

Fingersmith is the clear winner and seemed to get the most praise even on Twitter when I mentioned my survey there. I am looking forward to reading Fingersmith later this year and seeing what all the fuss is about. To those who voted for the other books, this doesn't mean I won't read those at some point in the future as well. Just that I am starting with Fingersmith.

Good news! To me anyway. On a whim I put my name in for a chance to win a bookcase over at Myckyee's BookBound. And I won! The bookcase (from CSN Office Furniture) arrived in the mail the end of last week. I have not yet had a chance to put it up (still deciding exactly where it will go), but already have the books to fill it. I will be sure and take photos of before and after so you can see how it looks.

On the not so good front (and non-book related), Anya is having serious health problems at the moment, and we're waiting for the final test results to come back to see how to proceed with treatment. She's a real trooper and is hanging in there. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

Edited to add: The veterinarian called this morning as promised. There's still more testing in store for Anya, unfortunately (including a possible bone marrow biopsy) but we're getting closer to finding the root cause. I truly appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.

Poor baby kitty. We have had sick cats lately too. I think my vet bill for the last few months have been somewhere nearly a couple thousand dollars. It's great having five cats until they all have issues at once.

I can't wait for you to read Fingersmith. My review is coming at the end of the month. But I think the survey rang true, because A Little Stranger was excellent as well. (The audio is read by Simon Vance, and is truly a work of art.)

I'm sorry to hear about Anya's health problems...I hope things turn out OK for you all.

I remember your talking about the Corrigan book before. I enjoy memoirs about reading - although, as you note, they can do some damage to the wishlist - so I'll have to look for that one. I definitely like the title, at any rate :-).

Ooh, congratulations on winning a bookcase! I know you'll put it to very good use :-).

Glad to see you back this Sunday, Wendy. I hope this means you're taking a break from your blogging break!

Tracy - I enjoyed Corrigan's book. I don't recommend stretching it out as long as I did. :-)

It seems like quite a few of us are planning to read Fingersmith this year. It will be fun to see what everyone thinks of it.

Thank you for the well wishes for Anya. I am anxiously awaiting the doctor's call. She said she'd call today despite it being Sunday.

Lisa - Thank you, Lisa! I hope so too.

Sandy - I am sorry your cats have been sick too, Sandy. I keep hoping the other two animals in the house will stay healthy for awhile. The tests alone have been expensive for Anya. :-S I guess it's good my husband and I have been working a lot of overtime. I just want Anya to be okay at this point. I'm so worried about her.

I look forward to your thoughts on Fingersmith!

Jeane - Yes, those books that add to our TBR piles are among the best. :-) I think when they don't it's a telling sign about the book about reading. I hope you do get a chance to read Corrigan's book.

Thank you for your prayers!

Sarah - I've had mostly good luck with books about reading. This is a good one.

I am looking forward to reading Sarah Waters' Fingersmith. It seems to be a lot of people's favorite.

Kathy - Thank you for your thoughts about Anya. I've been fortunate to get in as much reading as I have recently considering how busy it's been. It's nice when I can take some time out to read. :-)

Molly - It's good to be posting again. :-) I've missed you all.

I hope you do get to read Corrigan's book. I'd love to know what you think.

A friend and I are talking about reading Fingersmith together, and I think it would be fun to do a read-along. We should definitely look into it to see if it's doable.

Thanks for your prayers for Anya. Now if only the vet would call so we'd know how to proceed. I feel so helpless right now. We're supposed to keep the house calm and stress-free for her--I sure hope she isn't picking up on my stress, but I know she probably is.

Stacy - Thanks! I still can't believe I won--even though the bookcase is sitting right in front of me. We'll probably get it up within the next week or two when things calm down a bit around here. Thanks for your thoughts for Anya.

Florinda - Thanks, Florinda. I hope it doesn't turn out to be anything terribly serious, but the vet is very concerned. Enough that she's rushing the test results so we can try and treat Anya as soon as possible. And to think I'd only taken her to the vet for a minor problem. It's a good thing I did, I guess. That issue's been put on hold to deal with the more serious one.

I love the title of Corrigan's book. Everyone at work this past week was commenting on it. :-)

Thanks! I can always use another bookcase. Finding a spot for it is the challenge . . . LOL

It's good to be back to blogging. I've followed my Google Reader, but decided not to comment on any blogs while on my break. It actually was quite refreshing, although difficult at times.

Anna - I should have read A Deadly Paradise last year for the WWII challenge, but I didn't think of it. I hope you'll enjoy it when you read it.

I'm not one for memoirs of any kind not even if they're about people and their love of books. I have however read Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen and loved it. I actually wouldn't mind rereading it one day.

I'm going to be doing The Weight of Heaven tour as well but much later than yours. I'm looking forward to reading it as well. I look forward to your thoughts on it.

Sarah Waters- I have The Little STranger and I vow to get it read this year. lol.

Wendy, Fingersmith is a great choice. There is a mystery element to it that I think will appeal to you. I'm reading The Night Watch right now and while I like it, I don't think it's quite as good as Fingersmith.

I'll be thinking of you and your dear Anya ... scratch her behind the ears for me!

ALL - For those of you who subscribed to the comments, I posted a little update to the original post. So you don't have to come back and read it, this is basically what I added: The veterinarian called this morning as promised. There's still more testing in store for Anya, unfortunately (including a possible bone marrow biopsy) but we're getting closer to finding the root cause. I truly appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.

I have only read one or two bookish memoirs. One was the Yellow Lighted Bookstore(?) which I thought was okay. I can't remember the other one. I will see if the library has the one you mentioned. I would like to read more of them. I hope you kitty is okay. Two of ours have kept me company as I read this weekend. They took turns laying on me and on the end of my bed. lol :)

Glad to see that you are back Wendy! I added all three books about reading to my TBR list as I never seem to think that adding more books is a bad thing :) I'm sorry to hear about your kitty...hopefully she gets to feeling better soon! Have a great week!

I love memoirs! I have several favorites and it's too hard to choose just one. I can say that Sarah Ferguson's memoir was quite good! I'm sad to hear about your baby. I'll be sure to say prayers. I hope you enter your baby's picture in my Beautiful Baby Contest...

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At the age of five, Literary Feline (aka Wendy) was diagnosed as a fabulavore. Due to the low story content of movies and television, she has required a steady supply of books to provide her sustenance. She currently resides in California with her loving husband, adorable daughter, and two affectionate and sassy cats. Literary Feline has broadened her nutritional sources by reviewing books. Please note: Literary Feline is not a bibliovore. She's not eating the books for goodness' sake.